ShoreCap stands by 'buy' rating on Hilton Food
Analysts at Shore Capital Markets kept their 'buy' rating on Hilton Food Group following the firm's inline first-half trading update.
Food Producers & Processors
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16:59 26/04/24
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Hilton Food Group
908.00p
16:40 26/04/24
After Hilton issued a trading update for the 28 weeks ended 14 July, which stated that trading had "been in line with the board's expectations" as the firm benefited from additional volumes across its retail partners, Shore Cap opted to leave its forecasts unchanged.
ShoreCap said it was looking for full-year pre-tax profits of £47.4m and earnings per share of 43.3p for 2019.
While the British investment bank forecast for "modest growth" in 2019, it said it "confidently" anticipated a return to double-digit growth in 2020 and 2021 as workstreams across a range of geographies began to contribute more.
"Hilton Foods is a high-quality business in our view, one that more than merits its premium 21.7x FY2019 PER, and an EV/EBITDA multiple of 10.3x," said Shore Cap, which also kept its 955p target price unchanged.
"With good growth visibility and a balance sheet and cash flows to support future growth ambitions we reiterate our 'buy' recommendation."